Montco doctor accused of running pill mill

A Montgomery County doctor is accused of using his practice to illegally sell hundreds of thousands of prescription pills.

In a news conference on Thursday, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman announced the arrest of 76-year-old Dr. Richard Ruth of Souderton.

Authorities say he wrote nearly 1,800 prescriptions for oxycodone over the course of a year, distributing some 240,000 pills.

Ferman said the practice targeted young adults in their 20s.

"Patients would come in and they would get minimal medical exams, really no medical treatment to speak of," Ferman said. "All they needed to bring was cash and they would get a prescription for one of the most powerful narcotics known to man."

Ferman went on to say that while police were executing the search warrant, patients were still coming in to the office - some stumbling - to fill their prescriptions.

"They had no idea what was going on," Ferman said. "They just needed their drugs."